Two leaders of the British Jewish community clashed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress on Tuesday.

In an exchange of
emails, Jewish Board of Deputies vice-president Jonathan Arkush
and the organization's treasurer Laurence Brass clashed over the
Israeli Prime Minister’s controversial speech to the United
States Congress.

Brass recently announced he will step down from his post in May.
When declaring his resignation, he said he had been
“bursting” to criticize Israeli policy for many years.
Arkush will be standing for the presidency of the Jewish Board of
Deputies in the next election.

Netanyahu’s speech to Congress caused widespread controversy,
particularly his remarks on Iran’s nuclear program. In the email
exchange Brass said the Israeli premier led a “dishonored
administration.”

The rift began when Brass retweeted a message from lawyer Adam
Cannon that read: “Netanyahu boards plane for Washington: ‘I
go as an emissary of the entire Jewish people’… you are not my
emissary,” the Jewish Chronicle reports.

Arkush responded: “Netanyahu is going to the USA as the
democratically elected prime minister of Israel … He is warning
of Iran's nuclear determination which poses a mortal threat to
Israel (and the West).

“I feel desperately sad to see you disrespecting that.”

Brass emailed back: “Netanyahu has absolutely no right to say
that he speaks for the entire Jewish people. He certainly
doesn't. He speaks for his own dishonored administration which
hopefully will cease in 16 days’ time. In the meantime, he is
wrecking Israel/US relations and my friends in the Democratic
Party in the US tell me that they are exasperated at his behavior
this week.”

Arkush replied: “I know you are ‘bursting’ to criticize the
government of Israel but surely you can wait until you are no
longer an officer of the Board?”